The immortal is beside me

Chapter 102: Thousands of Years Later, the Immortal Reappears

"Two target persons found!"

The commissioner standing at the front suddenly spoke, attracting the attention of the entire team. Following their gaze, they saw two children in front of them, a brother and sister, about eight or nine years old, both wearing clothes with cartoon patterns, the sister wearing Peppa Pig and the brother wearing Ultraman.

The two children stood next to an imaginary boulder - in reality, this should be a billboard of a scenic spot - shaking their heads and looking around.

Mortals lacked clairvoyance and could not see the distorted space and time here. Therefore, the siblings didn't show much fear on their faces. Instead, they looked curious and intrigued, completely unaware of the danger around them.

"Be careful, these two children may have been infected by the chaotic Buddha power here."

The team leader spoke with a heavy tone, "According to the report from the first reconnaissance team, the Buddhist spiritual energy here will indiscriminately penetrate the soul. Those who are eroded by it may exhibit abnormal behavior. Prepare the soul-purifying talismans first."

The people in the back responded and began to take out their equipment, including Wu Yangchun. However, as he did so, he felt a little uneasy.

The Buddhist teachings that appeared in Ganzhou were unusual and would actively infect people's souls. This was the information they had received before setting out. Even ordinary monks had to resist with all their might, let alone ordinary people like the two children in front of them.

Let's not delve into why Buddhism, which has always been about doing things silently, would suddenly use such an evil magic. Since entering this area, he has always followed the instructions from above, always staying in the state of guarding the spirit platform and staring at the soul.

But. They had been traveling for half an hour since entering this space. During this half hour, he could indeed feel the huge spiritual power in this place, but there was no sign of being eroded by external forces.

If the leaders of the Cangtian Sect knew his current condition, they would be shocked.

To be able to control a major sect, one must be at least a powerful being above the Nascent Soul stage. Even with such a level of cultivation, they were still affected when they entered the Pure Land and were nearly infiltrated by it.

The place where the people from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau are now is also an area based on local cause and effect and condensed with Buddhist teachings. In essence, it is very similar to the Pure Land, but this group of specialists who only have the level of Qi Refining are not affected at all.

Of course, the commissioners of the Environmental Sanitation Bureau would not know what they were thinking at this time, as they were concerned about something else.

As if they heard the approaching footsteps of the crowd, the brother and sister in cartoon sweatshirts raised their heads and looked at the crowd here.

"There are police officers!"

The clear children's voice startled all the sanitation bureau specialists. The two children in front of them looked at them with clear eyes.

Naturally, they did not recognize these specialists from special departments. They just saw the armed uniforms on them and mistook them for police officers.

But the cheerful tone of the words and the lively posture in which they were spoken proved one thing - the two children's spirits were intact and not affected at all.

This is great news, but why?
They are just mortals who have not practiced Buddhism at all. Not to mention two children with weak souls, even adults would find it difficult to resist the erosion of Buddhism.

"Little boy, come here."

Wu Yangchun stepped forward first, greeting the two children softly while concentrating on observing his surroundings.

As the two children ran towards them, the scene around them seemed to be slightly distorted. Wu Yangchun noticed this strange phenomenon and focused his consciousness on the distortion. As he looked, his eyes suddenly changed.

Several figures in ancient armor appeared in his eyes. They looked like soldiers, standing around the two children with weapons in hand, and at first glance, they looked like they were standing guard.

The expressions of the commissioners behind him all changed. Apparently, Wu Yangchun was not the only one who noticed this unusual situation, and what surprised them even more was yet to come.

In front of them, the guards slowly turned their eyes and met everyone's gaze, as if they had noticed the presence of outsiders.

The guards opened their mouths, and no sound came out. However, in an instant, it was as if an invisible resonance spread in the air, allowing everyone to understand the meaning of the words.

"According to the immortal's wishes, we will protect our compatriots from the Central Plains and return home."

This sentence stunned everyone. Immortal's will? Fellow countrymen from the Central Plains? What did this mean?
"There's a saying in Buddhism: cause and effect are inherent. At all times, everything will proceed according to its original cause and effect."

The leading captain was the first to react. He carefully looked at the shadows of several soldiers in front of him. Their armor was tied with strips of cloth for identification, on which the words "Anxi" written in regular script could be vaguely seen.

"This is where the Anxi Army was stationed during the late Tang Dynasty. They liberated the local people from the rule of the Buddhist Tubo, returning the Anxi region to the embrace of the Central Plains. This marked the last glimmer of hope for the Tang Dynasty."

The leader spoke with a thoughtful look on his face. "Historically, the Anxi Army, also known as the Guiyi Army, was formed to bring their compatriots back to the Central Plains. Could it be that these illusions are the result of the karma left behind by the Anxi Army? Are they continuing their past actions to protect the people of the Central Plains from harm?"

Everyone expressed a hint of surprise. A false image of cause and effect, conjured by the Dharma, was actually protecting people from the Dharma's interference? It sounded like the left hand hitting the right, but it was indeed the only explanation that fit the current situation.

This can explain what the shadow said about "protecting fellow countrymen from the Central Plains to return home." But what does the previous sentence "following the will of the immortal" mean?
In an instant, everyone thought of the same existence - the red figure they had just seen.

Could it be that the "immortal" mentioned by the Anxi soldiers is...
Before everyone could figure out what was going on, the Anxi soldiers in front of them suddenly moved.

They took steps forward in unison, like soldiers returning to their tents after completing their mission. The yellow sand blew past, erasing their figures in an instant.

Looking in the direction where those people disappeared, I saw an ancient city that had appeared in front of me. It looked like it was built in the style of the Tang Dynasty, and the plaque on the city gate read "Shazhou".

Shazhou, now known as Dunhuang, was one of the cities of Anxi 1,200 years ago and the birthplace of the Anxi Army Uprising.

"Leave one person to focus on recording the details of the footage, another to escort the tourists out of the chaotic area, and the rest to continue searching for the target."

The leading captain thought for a moment and issued new instructions.

If this is really the result of cause and effect from the past, then it is a period of history involving Jiuli, Buddhism and the secular world. Among them is a person who is suspected to be a powerful figure in the history of Jiuli, whose value is immeasurable.

After the order was given, the commissioners started moving again, walking in the illusory yellow sand with detectors, trying their best to concentrate.

Before their eyes, outside the illusory Shazhou City, flags representing the Tubo side were being raised on the distant mountains, and crowds of people all over the mountains were like dark clouds pressing down.

In the distant sky, a little fire quietly lit up.

In 848 AD, Anxi, under the jurisdiction of Tubo, Shazhou City.

".General, the Tibetans are starting to move."

On the top of the city wall, armored soldiers jumped down from the platform and reported to the man standing by the wall.

The man known as General Zhang didn't answer, merely leaning against the city wall and gazing out. A faint golden glow was already emanating from the mountains and rivers dozens of miles away. He knew it was a unique technique wielded by the Tibetans, said to be derived from Buddhist teachings. The light was growing brighter and brighter, as the Tibetan army rapidly crossed the mountains and rivers, advancing towards the city below.

This is the only remaining city in Anxi controlled by the Central Plains people. Tubo has always wanted to take over this place. The tug-of-war between the two sides lasted for eighty years, until the defenders in the city were replaced by several generations.

Previously, they relied on the monks of the Jiuli Immortal Alliance to hold up the formation and block most of the enemies in front of the mountain pass. But now the last bit of the formation has been exhausted, and Tubo and the Buddhist sect behind them will obviously not miss this rare opportunity.

The enemy has sufficient supplies, sophisticated swords, and mysterious monks and magicians to protect them, while they only have this isolated city under their feet and a banner called Datang and Central Plains.

How can I, with this flesh and blood body, fight against the extraordinary power?
"General, what should we do next?" the soldier asked him cautiously.

The general lowered his eyes silently and stroked the city wall in front of him with his fingers, his gentle movements as if he was caressing his own child.

"I was born into the Tang Dynasty. Although I have been wandering abroad for half my life, I have never forgotten my roots. Even if heaven punishes me and earth destroys me, this heart will not change."

He looked up at the golden sky above his head, as if he was looking into the eyes of some being high in the sky.

"That's what I think. What do you think?"

The wind, carrying yellow sand, carried those words to the ears of every soldier on the city wall. They all gathered around the general and knelt on one knee.

"I will follow the general even if I die nine times!"

A deafening shout echoed from the city walls, scattering even the thick yellow sand. Amidst the roar, the general leaning against the wall smiled faintly, raised his hand, grasped the large flag with the word "Tang" inscribed on one side, and shook off the yellow sand.

"Pass on my order. The garrison on the west side of the city will open the side gate and escort the elderly, children, women and children out of the city when the opportunity arises."

"The rest of you, take all your weapons and prepare to follow me out of the city. Today, I will ask the gods in heaven to witness who is a native of the Central Plains!"

The general roared in the wind and sand, his armor waving behind him and the Tang flag in his hand. In this desert far from his homeland, he exuded the grandeur of the prosperous Tang Dynasty that looked down upon the world a hundred years ago.

I have endured for eighty years, but have not seen the Han banner. Thousands of miles away, with no news, I raise the Tang banner with my blood.

The soldiers began to run, and the sound of unsheathed swords rang out everywhere. Some people took advantage of this brief moment to lean against the wall and write furiously, writing their last letter home to the postman.

Beside the city wall, the general gazed at the golden clouds in the sky, slowly drew out his sword, and carved a few words on the city wall stroke by stroke.

[The Tang Dynasty is glorious, and Heaven blesses all nations]

He knew what they were facing and that it would be a futile battle.

After this battle, Shazhou City will no longer exist, and the last traces of the Central Plains will be buried in the yellow sand. Perhaps many years later, people will forget that Anxi was once the territory of the Central Plains, and everything they did will become the dust of history.

Everyone will die, including him.

There was still some time before he would go off to die, and he wanted to leave some more traces on the city. If the ruins were ever discovered, future generations would know that this place once belonged to the Tang Dynasty, to the Central Plains.

A point of light suddenly reflected on the blade, and the dazzling light shot into his eyes, causing him to squint and look up, a flickering flame reflected in his pupils.

It was a flaming meteor.

A meteor streaked across the sky, creating a ravine dozens of miles long in the sea of ​​clouds. A moment later, the green hills at the end suddenly burst into flames. Amidst a thunderous roar, a small hill and the Tibetan army above it were reduced to ashes.

Everyone on the city wall was stunned, and everyone looked up at the same time, looking towards the source of the "meteor".

On the red dome, a figure in red was walking among the clouds, with a longbow in his hand emitting flames.

He drew his bow and pulled the string, and an arrow of fire formed between the bowstring. When the arrow was shot out, it turned into a rainstorm of fire meteors, pouring down on the heads of the enemies in the mountains. In an instant, the mountains and rivers were flattened, and all the enemies were destroyed.

Eighty years later, reinforcements finally arrived in distant Anxi. However, they weren't a mighty procession of horses and carriages, but rather a killing god treading among the clouds.

He alone is like an army of thousands.

"Fuck."

"Be good."

The illusory flames lit up the sky, and everyone in the sanitation bureau subconsciously held their breath.

They had never seen such a move before. The man's might shook the world for a thousand miles, truly a one-man army that could crush anything. The Tibetan forces scattered across the mountains and plains were vulnerable to him.

How many people died in that meteor shower? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands?

No one could count them. By the time everyone reacted, the rain of flames had ceased, the Buddha's light in the sky had completely extinguished, and the once towering mountains and rivers had been largely shaved off, with white smoke rising into the sky, like a beacon fire surrounding the lonely city in the Central Plains, without a single living person in sight.

I thought the power of Buddhism was unimaginable, but those Tibetans who were blessed by the Buddha felt like they were facing heavenly punishment when facing him, and they didn't even have much time to resist.

There was such a person in the previous Immortal Alliance?
Wu Yangchun was secretly shocked. He thought that it was just a coincidence that Jiuli won the Lundao today, but looking at the current scene, he felt that the 10 yuan he bet was not lost unfairly.

"So this is how the cause and effect of this place has been preserved."

He wasn't a specialist in history, so he didn't know much about the state of the cultivation world 1,200 years ago. But they knew it was already the late Tang Dynasty, and the dynasty was already in tatters. The state of the supernatural forces behind it was imaginable.

When they were in turmoil, the monks of the Central Plains still protected their people who were stranded outside. The fact that they can now stand here as the descendants of the Central Plains is the legacy of the cause and effect of the past.

This is a cause and effect that has lasted for thousands of years.

"Another target found! Conscious!"

Hearing his companions' shouts through the headphones, Wu Yangchun withdrew his gaze from the sky and trotted towards the sound.

Behind him, the flames that reached the sky slowly died down, and the scene changed again.

(End of this chapter)